Judicial Watch: New FBI Records Reveal Thomas Crooks’ Phone Messages, Drone Details READ: https://t.co/U0U0Hz4FFT pic.twitter.com/0z1CKEn0Wh
— Judicial Watch ⚖️ (@JudicialWatch) October 5, 2026
Thomas Crooks’ Drone Photos and Text Messages Included in Latest Batch of FBI Records
The FBI records on Crooks also include messages indicating that he may have received a DHL delivery from Hong Kong…https://t.co/QJKizcX7Rs
— Salty Texan (@texan_maga) October 4, 2026
FBI releases new data on would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks' text messages to mystery person https://t.co/pOw1S74gia via @JustTheNews
— Logical Thinker (@CriticalThnr) October 5, 2026
The FBI Flagged Three Message Threads
Judicial Watch says it obtained 249 pages of FBI records through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The group also says the bureau has identified roughly 75,000 pages that may respond to its request. That makes the latest release only a small part of a much larger file. Among the pages are three message exchanges involving unnamed contacts. An August 2020 message asked Thomas Crooks whether he had made parts with a 3D printer. A January 2023 exchange mentioned a package labeled only with the letters “HK.” In June 2023, another contact asked what was happening in Crooks’ area. The FBI marked all three exchanges as “pertinent.”
The Records Do Not Identify the Contacts
The public pages do not name the people messaging Crooks, identify the 3D-printed parts, or explain what happened to them. Judicial Watch interpreted “HK” as Hong Kong, but the documents do not establish what the package contained or who sent it. The FBI’s label shows that investigators considered the exchanges important enough to preserve and flag. It does not prove that any contact assisted Crooks or knew about the later attack. That distinction matters. The records raise questions, but they do not answer them, which is a familiar feature of heavily redacted investigative files.
Old 3D-Printing Details Add Context
The release also includes information about Crooks’ earlier technical interests. According to the records, his father told investigators that Crooks had experimented with making a 3D-printed Glock as a teenager. Nothing in the public pages connects that earlier project to the parts mentioned in the 2020 message. The documents also do not show that the package referenced in 2023 was related to the Butler shooting. Those gaps leave room for further investigation, but not for confident claims about a connection that the released evidence does not establish.
Drone Images and Flight Logs Expand the Record
The FBI files include 40 images and eight flight logs from Crooks’ drone account, according to the records. Seven flights were logged in the Allegheny-West region, while one was recorded in the Butler area on the day of the shooting. Several images showed streets, homes, parking lots, and other locations around Pittsburgh. WPXI independently reported on the release and reviewed the same unresolved package message and 3D-printing exchange. The public material does not explain the purpose of each flight. It also includes a DHL notice connected to a shipment originating in Hong Kong, without identifying the contents.
The Release Leaves Key Questions Open
The FBI previously said agents gained access to Crooks’ phone soon after the attack and reviewed his devices, online activity, and movements while conducting hundreds of interviews. The newly public pages add phone messages and drone records to that picture, but they still do not identify several contacts or explain the purpose of the flights. They show that investigators had access to important digital evidence early in the inquiry. They also show how much remains unavailable to the public. The released records support careful questions about the investigation, not unsupported conclusions about who else may have been involved.
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